Homeopathy for Dog Cancer?
ByHomeopathy in dog cancer is a mixed bag, but may be useful for certain cancers.
Homeopathy is the administration of very diluted amounts of substances that have effects on the body that mimic the symptoms of the disease being treated. There is much debate on whether there is enough active ingredient in these dilute preparations to even do anything, but it seems there is some evidence that the answer is yes.
The most interesting use of homeopathy in cancer medicine is for brain cancer, by far. In a real clinical study at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center in Houston, a number of human brain cancer patients were treated with a homeopathic remedy called ruta 6. One type of brain cancer, gliomas, appeared very sensitive to the effects of the homeopathic remedy.
The ruta-6 was combined with another agent ( Ca3(PO4)2 ) and used to treat these glioma patients. Out of 7 patients treated, 6 of them had complete regression. This is quite an achievement.
To read the abstract, click here. One reason this is a remarkable result is that brain cancer, in particular in veterinary medicine, is so difficult to treat. Very, very few have access to the facilities needed to diagnose and treat brain tumors in the dog.
Ruta 6 is made from the common rue, otherwise known as the “herb of grace”. This is a shrub that is used both in medicine and also as a cooking herb. However, please note that this plant is not the same as the homeopathic remedy, and extracts can cause some potent effects including causing abortions. Read more here.
Take note that homeopathic remedies should only be administered to your dog by a licensed vet familiar with their use.
In some in vitro (literally, “in glass”, or in test tubes, as opposed to living bodies) studies showed that homeopathic remedies were able to cause cancer cells to commit suicide.
In this study, homeopathy was found to slow the rate of growth of prostate cancer cells that were implanted in lab rats. There was no effects on cancer cells that were exposed to any of the five homeopathic remedies. It seems that the remedies were able to alter the rats physiology enough to increase their bodies’ ability to fight the tumors a bit.
However, the evidence for using homeopathy across the board for cancer does not exist. Take a look at these tidbits.
Another study, which was a systematic review of a lot of other studies, found no real evidence for the remedies helping cancer patients. Yet another showed no benefit of ruta 6 in extending the life of lab animals with solid tumors.
What is the bottom line? If your dog is suspected of having a brain tumor, contact a vet with knowledge of homeopathy and consider ruta 6. Also, if your dog has prostate cancer, you may be well served getting homeopathic intervention. Since options are usually limited in these cases and side effects pretty limited, homeopathy is one possibility that could (maybe) make a difference. (See the last post on contacting an “alternative” vet.)
For more on dog cancer treatments that you may have not heard of before, see The Dog Cancer Survival Guide.
Best to all,
Dr D
About the Author
Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM is known as the "dog cancer vet" and is author of Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Beyond Surgery, Chemotherapy & Radiation. Visit his blog and sign up free to get the latest information about canine cancer. Go to http://DogCancerBlog.com.
6 Comments
January 7th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
After my dog developed a mast cell tumor (actually 5 clumped together) from a wasp sting, I did have her treated by our homeopathic vet. The vet said that there is actually a protocol for such a tumor.
I think these things are difficult to measure, but I know that homeopathy has been a lifesaver in this household on several occasions.
As for my girl, it’s been 2 1/2 years since the tumors were removed, and she is doing well. It was stage 2, with low mitotic figures, and I treated with surgery, supplements, and homeopathy.
January 8th, 2010 at 5:13 am
I am treating my Standard Poodle with Carcinosis and Thuja alternet weeks prescribed by my homeopathic vet. I am also giving him K9 Immunity and K9 Transferre factor daily. He is on a organic raw meaty
bone and veg diet and following surgery for an agressive giant cell sarcoma which evidence showed was re growing this tumour on his treatment regime has shrunk in front of our eyes. Its a miracle, he is 10 years old but believes he is two, SO full of fun and bounce. Thank goodness for alternet meassures. Lisbeth Gjetnes
January 8th, 2010 at 9:20 am
I was not fortunate enough to have access to a homeopathy vet in the treatment of my dog’s MCT. She lost her lengthy battle with it Dec 24/09. I know I would have lost her much sooner had it not been for me discovering Dr Dressler and purchasing his book. The information I learned from it and his regular blogs have been invaluable. I used the book in her treatment and in my preparing myself for letting her go. I can only say thank you to him for sharing his knowledge in his book and regularly here with those of us who found his website. I do know if his guidance and information is used the cancer can be held in check, more importantly I believe the quality of the dog’s life is greatly improved. My dog remained active and happy until the very last couple days of her life. I attribute that my use of the information I learned and more importantly practiced from the time I received Dr Dressler’s book. He states in it, it is not cheap nor from my experience without commitment on the part of the doggy’s caretaker however it is invaluable if we want to give our furry friend’s the best we can. Thank you Dr Dressler from the bottom of my heart, you are a very special doctor to those of us who have dogs that are suffering from cancer. I guide people here to you site when I hear they have a dog who is dealing with cancer.
January 9th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Thank you dear Millie
Dr D
January 9th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
I hope several of you readers get to see this before Dr. D’s henchmen take it down. Apparently anything useful to fight canine cancer other than what you are told on this site is not worth much in spite of the accredation of the National Institute of Health and the National Cancer Institute. The supplement is resveratrol and it has be shown in animal studies to reduce tumor incidence.
Here is a link to the article so that you can see it for yourself.
After reading it you can contact Dr. D and ask why this beneficial information is repeatedly deleted from the blog in spite of my trying to share this information with the readership who are only here to seek help and ideas for therapies.
And Dr. D says “you can learn from your patients and you should listen to them with an open mind and not pooh pooh alternative strategies”. Resveratrol for dogs is a great way to help prevent and treat cancer. The lack of recognition of this on this site and the removal of my earlier comments trying to share this It’s known as ‘condimnation
without investigation’ and yes Dr. D is guilty as charged. The leading
hypocrite wishing for you to know only what he tells you. Like most
Vets, out for the serious buck and wanting to control you using your heartstrings; i.e the love of your dog.
Here’s the link to the National Cancer Institue article. I hope many of you see this in the short time it is up before the censorship brigade takes over.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/red-wine-and-cancer-prevention
This is the worst kind of censorship.
January 9th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Dear Phillip,
I am sorry you feel this way. You have indeed shared your viewpoint on previous comments, along with the link, and I have kept your post active for those interested.
here is the still-active link in the blog if you would like to check it out for yourself:
http://www.dogcancerblog.com/apoptosis-and-dog-cancer/
Scroll down to the comments section to see your comment about your resveratrol-containing product, Canine Resvantage.
Unfortunately, I am trying to avoid advertising in the comment section of the blog, including your product Canine Resvantage.
Indeed, the continued onslaught of advertisements for your product, masquerading as information dissemination, has been intercepted. Additionally, I find the evidence for resveratrol use in existing canine cancer patients to be rather flimsy at this time. Perhaps this will change as new data emerge. It is actually funny as I just blogged on it, and then found your comment, so please read the blog post.
I would entertain all your comments there, and would welcome any new information that is truly relevant to the blog post, and that reveal any areas where my commentary appears lacking or ill-informed.
You will find that I have investigated it, although I am not condemning it. More precisely, I am suggesting that there are problems in whole-heartedly supporting resveratrol’s use for dogs with existing cancers. I have used the site mostly for people coping with a current canine cancer diagnosis, not so much as a cancer prevention blog.
There is a difference, one that deserves your attention, between existing cancer treatment, and cancer prevention. There is also a difference between cancer therapy concentrations in a petri dish and cancer therapy concentrations in the bloodstream or in a real life tumor. These differences highlight my lack of unbridled enthusiasm currently.
I am sorry if this is not in line with sales of your Resvantage Canine, but this is the story as I see it at this time. This viewpoint, as usual, is subject to change with the influx of new data.
I wish you well in your business endeavor and hope Resvantage Canine is profitable for you. Be well and I look forward to your input in the resveratrol comment section
!
Best,
Dr D